The Last Fix [En liten gyllen ring no]

'Prettywell actually. I would say I'm doing a good job.'

'You'rethriving?'

'Yes,and the patients with me.'

'AndKatrine?'

Shenodded. 'Katrine was the young, silly type. Excuse my language. I liked hervery much; she had looks, style, a future and all that, but at the same timeshe was envious of me.'

Gunnarstrandasmiled in acknowledgement.

'Shewas envious of my life, house, money and the car I drive. Please don'tmisunderstand me. Such envy is healthy. That type of girl, however, needsclear, specific models; their personality is too fragile and their self-imagetoo vulnerable to come to terms with the fact that life can be hard. Theirwhole problem is that when they come face to face with reality, when they areconfronted by adversity and the going gets tough, they resort to drugs. That isa world they can control; the drugs milieu is full of clichés, as youknow. Not even the worst soap opera on TV can be as superficial or hollow or asfull of vacuous phrases as a conversation between two addicts.'

Gunnarstrandasipped his coffee and was on the point of saying something.

'I'msorry,' Sigrid said, suddenly seeming depressed. 'It's just that I can't takeit in that I'm talking about Katrine. Of course I know she's dead, but it'sstrange anyway…'

'Ifshe had died in a different way,' the policeman said, 'let's suppose, of theclassic overdose, for example, I daresay we would not have been sitting herediscussing her.'

SigridHaugom closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh. Silence fell over the room.*Gunnarstranda leaned back and watched her from beneath half- closed eyelids.She shifted position, cleared her throat and said: 'Death is not so unusual inthis job, of course. We've had several patients who have died. Death andoverdoses are daily topics of conversation – in fact. But addicts are neverkilled by someone else; they tend to kill themselves.' She looked down.

Gunnarstrandanodded. 'What did you think about fru Ås inviting her to a party at herhome on Saturday?'

'Iwas against it, and I definitely thought it was premature.'

'Whatdo you mean by premature?

'Thedifficulty for our patients is that they often have to be fundamentalists tosurvive. They have to be off all drugs, off alcohol and off former friends. Doyou understand? But the world isn't like that. The world is full of overlappingnetworks. Reality consists of people who build alliances. The world is full ofdouble standards and territorial battles. At the Centre we do have occasionalparties. Everyone does. But I didn't like Katrine being there. For our patientsit's tough to face the fact that the very people who work every day at riddingthem of their addictions turn to alcohol when they want to enjoy themselves.Everyone drinks with moderation. Well, maybe not everyone. Some drinkthemselves legless. The difference between an addict and a so-called normalperson is that the latter can adapt their lives to the demands of everydayliving. They go to work sober, drink a beer in the sun – but they stop there.In my opinion, the kind of party Annabeth has is a revolting ritual.Revolting is my word and I am against that kind of ritual. When a patientlike Katrine takes part, the party changes character; it becomes a sort ofconfirmation ceremony, with the patient showing us that she can deal with thelife to which she has to return.'

Asort of initiation test into the normal world?'

'Notmy words, but you've got my point.'

'Butweren't you worried when she fell ill?'

SigridHaugom sighed and stared out of the window, sunk in her own thoughts whileabsentmindedly running a hand up and down her leg and scratching herself. Theroom was silent except for a wall clock and its hollow, raindrop-like, tickingsounds. Gunnarstranda peered up at it: old-fashioned craftsmanship with a dialmade of matt porcelain, covered in stains. The Roman numerals were neatlypainted and the same neatness was visible on the clock hands. A carved eagleadorned the wooden clock, and the pendulum that hung next to the wall swungfrom side to side between two weights, much like fir cones in appearance.

'Nowshe's dead of course, but as a rule we would have been worried, yes,' thesilver-haired woman said.

'Butat the time, during the party?'

'Itried to talk to her, but then she seemed to recover. She must have eatensomething she couldn't stomach and then it passed…'

'Soher behaviour didn't give cause for alarm?'

'Nowthat you ask, I think perhaps we should have taken the whole affair moreseriously.'

'Hasthis sort of thing happened before? I mean that a patient is sick in this way?'

Aneloquent smile played on Sigrid's lips. 'It was the first time I'd been to thatsort of party. For the Centre, that is. Such parties are not that usual.'

'Whatwas the occasion?'

'Itwas a party for the staff – an end-of-summer celebration. I suppose Katrine hadbeen invited because she was leaving us for the big, wide world. Her treatmentat the Centre would have been finished in the summer.'

'Arethere many patients you can declare drugs- free?'

'Ourstatistics are not very good, no.'

Gunnarstrandasat looking at the floor. 'Are anyone's statistics good?' he asked at length.

'Yes,some are. Nothing exceptional, but there are better statistics than ours.However, even if Katrine was the patient who had achieved most, that doesn'tmean that we don't have a lot to do. Some of the blame for the bad figures hasto lie with the legislators. Patients come to us as a result of compulsionorders, but they only last for a little time, and if we don't have theauthorization to hold them, they often go. It's the same as with many so-callednormal people: they take the path of least resistance.'

'Whydo you think she was ill that night? Do you think it had anything to do withthe food?'

'Ihave no idea.'

Gunnarstrandawaited while Sigrid reflected. She was sitting with her legs folded beneath heron the sofa, holding an ankle with one hand and supporting herself with theother. 'I remember Katrine and Annabeth were in conversation, and that I walkedtowards them. Her boyfriend, who was there, did the same. He caught her whenshe fell.'

'Shefainted?'

'Idon't know.'

Gunnarstrandawaited.

'Shemight have fainted.'

'Whatdid you do?'

'Ifollowed the two of them, her and her boyfriend, to the bathroom and, after awhile he came out, leaving her inside. He said she felt better and would be outin a while. I waited for a bit, and after a few more minutes I knocked on thedoor. But she wouldn't open up. A little later she shouted to me thateverything was fine and opened the door. Then I went in; she was sitting on thetoilet lid. I remember I washed her face. She seemed fine, but was a littleshaky. I remember she asked me to call a taxi, but then didn't bother, that isto say she told me not to bother. She said she would come out of the toilet,but that she might leave the party early. So I went.'

'Didyou say anything else to her?'

'No.Some time later I asked Annabeth, but she thought she had gone home earlybecause she was ill.'

'Whatdid you think then?'

'Iwas nervous. She was upset because of an incident that took place earlier inthe day and -'

'Whatsort of incident?' Gunnarstranda interrupted.

'Ithink someone from her former life had appeared in the travel agency where shewas working.'

'Who?'

'Idon't know the name. But she rang me a couple of hours before we left forAnnabeth's. It must have been about five o'clock, I think, so it was after shehad finished work. She said something had happened.' Sigrid frowned. 'The wholething was a bit incoherent, but I think she said someone from the drugs milieushe had been part of turned up at her workplace. That was why she had to talkto me. She insisted on it.'

'Whyyou?'

'Because…'Sigrid searched for words.

Gunnarstrandaleaned back in the chair, silent.

'Becausewe talked a lot. We got on well.'

'Butwhat did she want to talk about?'

SigridHaugom deliberated. 'I asked if we couldn't talk on the phone, but she said no.I remember I looked up at that clock.' Sigrid pointed to the wall where theclock in the brown box was ticking loudly. 'It was past five and we had to beat Annabeth's for half-seven. And I was working out how much time I would needfor a shower and the other things I needed to do. I… well… I tried to make itall fit, let me put it like that, and asked if I should pop by before we wentto the party, but she said no.'